Reference no: EM133656079
1. (i) DISGUST, AND
(ii) THE HYGIENE HYPOTHESIS
(i) Why does the emotion or feeling of disgust help humans?
(ii) What is the evolutionary significance of disgust? Be sure to carefully explain how such an emotion may evolve.
(iii) Evolutionary medicine is interested in the practical applications of evolutionary research. What are some of the practical public health applications of disgust research?
(iv) What is the Hygiene Hypothesis? What do they mean by hygiene? Does it pertain to developing, pre-demographic transition countries or post- demographic transition countries?
(v) What diseases have been associated with the Hygiene Hypothesis? Please explain how the rate of specific diseases or conditions appear to be changing and how that provides support for or does not support the Hygiene Hypothesis?
(vi) Critically evaluate the Hygiene Hypothesis. Does the original hypothesis still hold? Are new hypotheses replacing the Hygiene Hypothesis?
2. BIRTH WEIGHT, PARENTAL INVESTMENT AND SELECTION.
(i) What are the crucial elements of Robert Triver's (1972) definition of parental investment?
(ii) How does this definition differ to the later one provided by Tim Clutton- Brock?
(iii) Across species, birth weight or offspring size is considered a measure of parental investment; please explain how this fits with the definitions above.
(iv) Detail how natural selection has shaped human birth weight throughout human history.
(v) From an evolutionary medicine perspective examine birth weight in terms of life history theory, the developmental origins of health and disease paradigm and parent-offspring conflict theory.
3. SENESCENCE, AGEING AND MENOPAUSE.
(i) Use evolutionary reasoning to analyse the unusual aspects of the human lifespan such as senescence, ageing, a post-reproductive lifespan and menopause.
(ii) What are the six hypotheses about the evolution of longevity in humans? Briefly, compare and contrast these hypotheses.
(iii) We also examined 4 theories of ageing - that is why do we age - list the 4 theories of ageing.
(iv) If humans are co-operative breeders, the grandmother hypothesis is plausible. Why then is it that some cultures do not value older people? Is it possible for grandparents to have evolved in humans due to their beneficial effects and at the same time be devalued even killed (geronticide) in some cultures? Can both statements be true at the same time?
(v) How does the "First Contact" documentary from Week 11 support evolutionary theories of human longevity.
4. HISTORY AND IMPACT OF EVOLUTIONARY MEDICINE
(i) Evolutionary medicine is a new discipline only some 20 years old. Explain what this new discipline encompasses.
(ii) Throughout this semester we have examined a broad range of evolutionary medicine topics. Some of these have contributed to clear, valuable advances in our understanding of health. Please detail some examples of cases where an evolutionary medicine has provided a benefit.
(iii) All disciplines have aspects that do not always produce the best possible outcomes. Sometimes there are barriers within disciplines, between disciplines or other aspects of the science is difficult to understand. Can you think of any disadvantages an evolutionary medicine perspective has?
(iv) We have discussed how evolutionary medicine has been slow to take off in some countries and Australia is no exception. What are some reasons why you think it has been slow to have a big influence in medicine.
(v) What do you think is the future of this discipline? Where do you think it can take medicine?